Mixing Politics and Religion | Part 7 | Now What – Things Christians Should do After the Election
Alright well we’re there in 2nd Chronicles 7. We’re in the final series of “Mixing Politics and Religion”. The election has come to an end and Joe Biden gave his victory speech for winning the Presidential election. I’m preaching a sermon entitled “Now what?”. What I want to do this morning is I want to give you four things that every Christian must do after this election. Four things that every Christian must do and these are four things that we should do instead of worrying, instead of living in fear. Four things every Christian must do.
Now we’re there in 2nd Chronicles 7. Earlier this year I preached an entire series on the subject of revival. And in that entire series, I purposely did not go to 2nd Chronicles 7:14 because I knew that I would be going to here for this series. This is honestly probably the quintessential verse when it comes to revival. Now the context of course is that Solomon has just build the temple and they are dedicating the temple to the Lord. And the Lord is speaking to Solomon and acknowledging Solomon. And this is what God says to Solomon. “14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”. Let me just say this by way of introduction. It’s interesting to me that when you look at one of the most famous verses in the entire Bible regarding revival that it begins with these 2 statements. “14 If my people, which are called by my name,”.
Because when you talk to most Christians today, if you were to walk up to just the average person that identifies himself as a conservative Christian and you were to ask them what is it that is hindering revival in our country, what is it that is hindering the work of God in our country, what is prolonging wickedness in our country, people might say it’s the LGBT or the liberals or the media or Black Lives Matter or Joe Biden or whatever. But the real reason why we are not experiencing revival is because Christians are not knowing God and not making God known. Because if you remember, that was the definition of revival that we learned earlier this year. The reason for that they would say is all of these exterior things. It’s all these other things. It’s somewhere out there. They would say it’s not our fault but the Democrats or Liberals. But God says “14 If my people, which are called by my name,”.
1 Peter 4:17 “17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”. See, we say that we want God’s judgment to come upon these wicked people. But wait a minute. The Bible says that judgment must begin at the house of God. Revival begins with God’s people. You say what’s the reason for the state of our nation and the state in which it is? If you were to ask God, if you were to ask the Bible, the answer would be this “if my people”. And it must begin with us. It must begin with you and it must begin with me. Judgment must begin at the house of God. Here God tells Solomon “if my people which are called by my name”.
He is going to give us 4 things that we must do in order to experience revival. 4 things if they want to experience the hand of God and the power and healing of God upon their country. If you want to solve all of the national problems then here is what we do. You say “The Democrats stole the election.”. I’m sure they did but is protesting that what our agenda should be? The 4 things we need to do as believers have nothing to do with politics. None of them have to do with protesting.
Number 1 – Humble themselves.
It’s interesting to me that if you were to ask God what needs to happen to turn a nation back to God, you would think it would be prayer or Bible reading or Church attendance. But God says that #1 is to humble themselves. He says “14 If my people, which are called by my name,”. Ok God. What do we need to do? Memorizing the Bible? Read the Bible? Go to Church? And look, all of those things are important but the first thing he says is “shall humble themselves,”. What does that mean? It means a lowering of oneself. It means to yield yourself. It means to see yourself in your proper perspective and realize that there are other things that are more important than you, that you must yield yourself to something greater than yourself. God says you must humble yourself. And it’s interesting to me that the candidate that Christians across this entire country decided to promote and to put all their backing behind was the one guy who you could never use the word humility to describe – Donald Trump. He said “14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,”.
And look, there’s nothing new. Leaders tend to be proud, arrogant people. In Daniel chapter 4 we have King Nebuchadnezzar who’s the Donald Trump of his day. Extremely arrogant. And notice what the Bible says in Daniel 4:25. “25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee,”. God made him go crazy for 7 years and he began to act like a beast and began to act like an animal. He says then “seven times shall pass over thee”. And I want you to notice verse 25. “till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.”.
You say “Pastor, are you discouraged that Joe Biden is now our President?”. And look, I will tell you this. I am surprised that Joe Biden is our President. I don’t believe that all of these votes are legitimate. It might have surprised me and you but it didn’t surprise God. The Bible tells us that it is God who puts leaders and allows leaders. All of these things are filtered through God. And God allows leaders. You say “Well why would God give us a leader like Joe Biden.”. I’ll tell you that God gives nations the leaders they deserve and Joe Biden is the leader that this country deserves. “till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.”. Notice those words “that the heavens do rule”.
You say “Pastor, are you concerned with our country and the direction it’s going to go politically in the economy.”. You know what, here’s what I know. The heavens do rule. This might have caught you and me by surprise but not God by surprise. The Coronavirus didn’t catch God by surprise and the election didn’t catch God by surprise. Look, you have to get to the place where you decide to believe the Bible. And if you believe the Bible, here’s what you must believe. The heavens do rule. God is the one who establishes kingdoms and God gives that power to whomsoever he will. And you say “But what about someone as terrible as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris? Well look at verse 37 of the same chapter.
Daniel 4:37. This is where he became humble and got his reasoning back. He says “37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk-in pride he is able to abase.”. You say “What’s the first step towards revival?”. It’s humility. It is realizing that if we’re going to accomplish anything, if we’re going to get anything done, we must be humble. This is where God begins with. Humility. And again, you are never going to convince me that if the Lord Jesus Christ was voting that he would have voted for that man.
The problem is not necessarily with a President. The problem is that Christians are not humble. And look, the only way that Christians could even support a man that arrogant is because we are not humble. He says “14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,”. The Bible teaches that humility is when we esteem others better than ourselves. The Bible teaches that humility is when we yield ourselves to someone else. And look, when it comes to humility, this is important because we have not put God in his proper place.
Colossians 1:17 “17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”. Verse 18 “18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead;”. Notice these words “that in all things he might have the preeminence.”. Now often when we look at the word “preeminence”, I’ve said this myself, it means that God comes first. The Bible says that we should seek first the kingdom of God. And we understand those things but preeminence is more than God or Jesus coming first. Preeminence is this idea that he is above all things and that he is before all things. See, preeminence is not that God is the first thing, preeminence is that God is the only thing. You say “Why do you say that Christians are not humble today?”. Because with most Christians, God does not come first at all.
Luke 9:23 “23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,”. What does that mean? It is a denial of self. “let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”. And look, in American Christianity today, most Christians need to look at their lives and honestly ask if God has preeminence in their lives. People come to church when their lives are falling apart and we’re happy that they come and in many was Church is like a spiritual hospital. They come here and think that God will solve all of their problems but they look at God as a means to an end to help with health, finances, relationships. I’m here to tell you that God will help you with all those things but please understand, God is not a means to an end. God is the end. The goal is God. The purpose is God. The reason that you and I were left on this earth after salvation was to glorify God, was to serve God, was to live for God. And that requires humility to say it’s not me, it’s not about me, it’s not about who I am and what I want and my desire, it is about God. See, God begins by saying “if my people would lower themselves, would position themselves appropriately, would take perspective and realize that God should have the preeminence.”. He says “if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves.”.
The first step is to humble ourselves. And that’s pretty elementary. Somebody should have taught that to Donald Trump. That’s something you teach a seven-year-old. You say that’s pretty shallow, that’s not deep. Well, there’s more to humility than just not talking well about yourself. Humility is realizing that you must yield yourself to God, that you are not the most important person in life, that you are not the ruler or leader of your life. Humility is realizing that Christ must have preeminence. And look, whenever in the Bible people got a real view of God, it always produced in them a humility. When Isaiah saw the Lord high and holy and lifted up, he bowed himself down. When Peter got a good look at Jesus and realized this was more than just a man, he said “depart from me for I am a sinful man.”. See, humility is having a proper view of God and his position in our lives. And then he says “and pray”.
You say, prayer is pretty basic. I thought we would get something a little deeper tonight. Well hold on a second. Don’t answer this out loud but do it in your own mind. How much time did you actually spend in prayer this week? I mean let’s quantify it now. Don’t say out loud. I’m not a Catholic Priest up here where you have to confess your sins to me. But honestly ask yourself. You say “I thought you would preach on end times prophecy or Joe Biden”. No, how about this? How much time have you spent in prayer? How much time have Christians actually spent in prayer? And I’m not talking about how much time you spent in prayer at midnight on election night when it looked like Trump might lose the presidency. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about how much time have we actually as God’s people spent in prayer. Let me tell you something, we don’t pray because we don’t have a proper view of God in our minds and thoughts. We do everything we can to fix situations on our own and at the last second, at 11:59, we call on God and hope he will step in.
You say, well the reason I don’t pray is because God doesn’t answer my prayer. But see, sometimes God doesn’t answer prayers because we don’t start with true humility. The Bible says in James 4:3 “3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”. See, if your prayers consist of asking God to give you a million dollars or help me get this toy or go on this vacation then he might not answer. I’m not saying it’s wrong to pray for our daily bread but look, God says “not my will but thine be done.”. See, prayer is about us connecting into the will of God and sometimes God’s will is different than yours. What’s the proof of that? Well, most of us didn’t want Joe Biden to win.
James 5:16 “16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”. The word avail or availeth means that it’s effective, it’s beneficial, it’s advantageous. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”. Then he makes this statement. “17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly”. What did he pray for? That it might not rain. You say “Pastor, I don’t appreciate you spending the last six weeks preaching against Donald Trump and now Biden won and it’s your fault.”. I wish I had that much influence with my preaching that I could sway an election.
You say “He’s going to destroy the economy and I don’t want the economy destroyed.”. Did you ever think that maybe God allowed Biden to become President to destroy our economy so people would turn back to God? See, God’s not interested in your vacation or in your cruise or in your second home or 5th vehicle. God is interested in souls getting saved. And if it means losing the economy, if it means the man of God praying that it might not rain so people will turn to God then praise the Lord for it. “17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.”.
And people died and women died and widows died. The economy was destroyed. But because of it, Elijah was able to stand on Mount Carmel and tell the people to choose God, to turn to God and they did. And he prayed again and the heavens gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit. See, if you ask conservative Christians “What’s the problem with America?”. They will say black lives matter, the mainstream media, the LGTBQ agenda. And the truth is that “Black Lives Matter” has nothing to do with racism and everything to do with the LGBTQ agenda of this country. If I was a black man then I would be offended that they’ve connected their filth to the black community. But see, if you ask the conservatives what’s the problem then they’ll say Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, the liberals, the democrats, the taxes. But God says “No, the problem is that my people are not humble. My people are not praying.”.
What’s the 3rd step? “and seek my face”. In Matthew 5 we have the most famous sermon in the Bible, the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:6 “6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”. Go to Matthew 6:33. “33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”. This requires humility. The Bible also says “6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”. It’s interesting to me that he uses this terminology of hungering and thirsting because a hunger or thirst is a feeling that our body feels. It is a sensation or a need when you are thirsty and the same when you are hungry. The Bible says people need to seek my faith, hunger and thirst after righteousness. Here’s the question that I have for you. What drives you? What motivates you? What is that thirst and hunger?
Let’s just be honest. Can we be honest? If there’s one place we could be honest then I’d hope it’d be Church. What drives the average American Christian? It’s not Almighty God. It’s the almighty dollar. Money drives the average American. Or it is things that drives the American Christian. Power, drugs, alcohol, lusts, fame, education, politics. Look, if you’re crying because of who got elected as President, you’re a little too connected. What drives you or motivates you in your life? Is it the next vacation? Is it the next day off from work? Is it the next fun thing that you’re going to be doing? God says that he wishes his people would be driven by God. He says that he wishes his people would get up every day and have a thirst and have a hunger for God.
Hebrews 11:6 “6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,”. We like that part. But here is the part we don’t like. “and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”. Why does God say that? Here’s why. Because seeking God requires diligence. It’s hard work. It’s not easy to seek after God. You say why is America not experiencing revival and why is America in the state that it is in? Because God’s people are not humble. Because God’s people are not praying. Because God’s people are not seeking his face. Ask yourself in your heart of hearts, what really drives you?
Let me give you 2 real practical things to see if you are seeking God. How is your Bible Reading? That’ll tell us a lot about who you are seeking. And again, don’t raise your hand and don’t answer out loud but how much time did you actually spend in God’s word this week? And if it is little then how can you make the argument that you’re seeking after God? See, your daily Bible reading will tell us a lot about whether you’re seeking God. Your Church attendance will tell us a lot about whether you’re seeking after God. I understand that we’re in a time right now where people are sick and staying home because they’re high risk and all those things and I understand that. I’m not talking about that. But I will say this, if you’re able to go to Church and you’re choosing not to then don’t tell me you’re seeking after God. We need to get back to three to thrive. We need to get back to putting God first. We need to get back to God is first every day and twice on Sunday.
James 4:8 “8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”. The beautiful thing about God is that God says when you draw nigh to him that he will take a step towards you. He said that he’ll meet us halfway. But the reverse is true as well. If we take a step away from God, God takes a step away from us. That’s the reason we’re in the state we’re in. God said that if his people would just humble themselves and get a proper perspective of themselves and lower themselves and say God is preeminent, if they would actually pray according to his will believing in faith that God’s will would be done and praying for God’s will to be done in their lives, and if they would seek his face by hungering and thirsting after him.
Fourthly in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “and turn from their wicked ways”. That’s repentance by the way. And this is not a verse on salvation so don’t accuse me of that. But you know, actual revival of nations requires repentance and turning from their wicked ways. In the book of Jonah, we have the biblical example of one of the greatest national revivals. And by the way, in this chapter, we see people getting saved and also getting right with God. Jonah 3:6, notice what the Bible says “6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.”. So Jonah shows up preaching the word of God and the king of Nineveh responds this way. What we see is humility from the King. That’s “if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves”.
“7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God:”. We see humbling themselves, praying, seeking the face of God. And of course as these people are humbling themselves and praying and getting right with God and getting saved and they’re seeking the face of God. Then the fourth ingredient of turning from their wicked way. “yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.”.
Look at verse 9. “9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?”. And by the way, this is not teaching repent of your sins for salvation. They did get saved but this is them getting right with God. In verse 10 it says “10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”. This was talking about God not judging their nation and bringing judgment upon their nation. Please understand this. God’s people, not only do they need to humble themselves, not only do they need to pray, not only do they need to seek God’s face but must turn from their wicked way.
You say why is America in the state it’s in? Because Christians are watching the same filth on tv that the world is listening to, the same worldly music that the world is, getting divorced just like the world is, getting drunk just like the world is, living like the world. And we want to sit there and say “Well if the world would get better.”. And God says “Well if my people would get better.”. He says “if my people which are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked way.”. Please understand this, I don’t believe that the election of Joe Biden is a good thing. We might be in for a dark winter as Joe Biden said. But it might just be what this nation needs.
Habakkuk 3:1 “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. 2 O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.”. He’s talking about judgment coming and would to God that God’s people would experience a brokenness after this election. Not a “Fox News let’s get out there and protest.”. But instead let’s get out there and get right with God. Get the sin out of our lives. Seek after God, pray, humble ourselves and cry out to God that in wrath he would remember mercy.”. Conservative Christians lost something when they rallied around a man like Donald Trump. Listen to me, it is a sad day in this country when the Whoremongering Bill Clinton Party ran against an arrogant wicked man like Donald Trump. Democrats are saying don’t vote for Trump because he has no character but Christians don’t even care if he has character or integrity.
The problem is that Christians have gone away from righteousness. Proverbs 14:34 “34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”, What does America need? Righteousness. It doesn’t matter who’s in the White House. If God’s people got right with God, it wouldn’t matter. God gives us a recipe for revival. He says that if you want revival, don’t worry about the electoral college. You say “But they stole the election”. Look, elections have been stolen for years. Let me let you in on a little secret, if you still think it’s about the republicans and the democrats then nobody let you in on the joke. It’s two sides of the same coin. They’re all new world order elitist bringing in the devil’s plan. “34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”.
See, if you ask God what’s the problem, please understand this. The sodomites are a problem, divorce is a problem, Hollywood is a problem, the media’s a problem, Joe Biden is a problem, Kamala Harris is a big problem. But the real problem is Christians. We have Christians backing female judges. That’s called being a compromiser. I’m not just against women being in charge when she is a Democrat but what about when the Bible says “11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”. Whether she is Democrat or Republican. How about we have standards and character and integrity. It doesn’t matter what the news or politicians say. The Bible says “34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: “. Christians need to get back to just saying that the Bible is right, period. Whether people like it or not, protest against me or not. We need men of God that will preach the word of God with boldness.
See, if you ask God what’s the problem, he would say “if my people” because judgment must begin at the house of God. “14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”. God says that he will hear and will heal. Joe Biden in his acceptance speech said it’s time for America to heal referencing back to the book of Ecclesiastes. But you know, the Bible says that God is the one who heals nations. God is the only one who can heal this land.
So realize, the Church House is more important than the White House. I’m not just saying that. It’s true. You say “Pastor, what’s the hope for America? What’s going to get us through the next four years of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris?”. “14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”. Look, you may not like it, it might not go well on cable tv but that’s what God thinks about it. Why is our nation in the state it’s in? Because of us. Because judgment must begin at the house of God. And I hope it’ll begin here at Verity Baptist Church.
Let’s pray.